This fall, 565 students joined the class of 2030 at Elizabethtown College. With the bustle of activities and a perpetually growing list of assignments, you probably won’t get to meet them all. So, let me introduce you to one: Catie Sones.
Sones is a first-year honors student and legal studies major. However, her journey to choosing her major was a bit unconventional.
“Originally, I was going to be bio pre-med,” Sones said. “And then I was like, ‘I actually hate bio so much.’”
While searching for inspiration for a new path, she found it in an unlikely place: an episode of “House.”
“I was watching “House” and they introduced this new character named Stacy, an in-house healthcare lawyer, and I was like, ‘I really like her job,’” Sones said.
Sones feels confident in the decision to switch her major because of her established interest in studying law and the court system.
“I’ve been super into AP Government,” Sones said. “And studying the court cases in that class was my favorite thing ever.”
Despite the confidence in her choice to pursue legal studies, the transition to Etown came with some challenges for Sones in adjusting to college life.
“A lot of learning is outside of class,” Sones said. “There’s not a lot of structured support.”
Sones also struggles with feeling under-scheduled.
“I only have four classes, and I feel like after I finish my classes there’s more that I could be doing,” Sones said. “I just feel empty.”
Despite the challenges, Sones has still made an effort to get involved with the Etown community.
“I’m in line dancing,” Sones said. “And the honors program has gotten me more involved with the community because you need fifteen hours of community service every year, so I’ve been volunteering with the DSAA [Donegal Substance Abuse Alliance], and I met a bunch of people through that.”
Sones has also developed some strategies to cope with not feeling fulfilled.
“I try to read my textbooks more in-depth and from a different perspective, or I like to take notes,” she said.
Sones also aims to graduate early and shared how she plans to achieve this goal.
“Something that’s helped me so far is the fact that I did a bunch of APs in high school,” Sones said. “And I think another thing that will help me is the fact that I can overload classes as long as I’m in good standing with the honors college.”
With the rigorous class schedule and immense studying ahead of her, I was curious as to where her favorite place to do classwork and/or relax on campus was.
“My dorm,” Sones said. “Because it’s so personalized to me.”
Besides working and hanging out in her dorm, Sones also enjoys the social aspects of college life.
“I like that you can see the people you know on a daily basis,” Sones said.
Now that she’s settling in here at Etown, Sones plans to stay true to the motto of “educate for service” by giving back to the local community.
“I am going to keep doing community service at the DSAA even past my required fifteen hours,” Sones said.
Sones’ commitment to her studies and goals and her contributions to the local community make it apparent that she is a fine addition to Etown, and that she will continue to live by the motto, “educate for service” as she pursues her higher education and career.
